Chaplaincy in the behavioral health setting compliments treatment programs in that a connection to a person’s personal belief system is supported to help encourage recovery and healing.

“I’m humbled to be in a position to forge a connection with the people we serve as a way to help them along their life journey,” said Hamel. “Faith can be an important component to successful, long-term addiction recovery and coping mechanism for mental health challenges.”

Currently, more than a dozen chaplaincy groups within the U.S. offer varying levels of education and training, but The Spiritual Care Association demonstrates the use of a standardized, evidence-based curriculum through clinical knowledge-based scoring and competency testing. As such, the same rigor in education, training and testing demanded by other health care disciplines are brought to the chaplaincy profession.

Lakeview Center is a United Way partner agency. Lakeview Center receives funding from the State of Florida, Department of Children and Families, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), and the Department of Education/Division of Vocational Services.